SHSelfHostIndex

Portainer CE vs portkey

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted dashboards & startpages options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
PO Portainer CE Lightweight management UI for Docker and Kubernetes VS PO portkey Simple web portal that serves as a startup page, displaying a
FeaturePortainer CEportkey
CategoryDashboards & StartpagesDashboards & Startpages
LicenseZlibAGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptGo
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, helmdocker
GitHub stars★ 38,184★ 162
First released20162026
ReplacesRancher, Docker Desktop—

Why pick each one

Choose Portainer CE if…

  • Very beginner-friendly
  • Broad orchestrator support
Portainer CE details

Choose portkey if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Go
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
portkey details

Frequently asked questions

Is Portainer CE or portkey better?

Portainer CE is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider portkey if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Portainer CE and portkey free and open-source?

Yes. Portainer CE is licensed under Zlib and portkey under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Portainer CE and portkey with Docker?

Portainer CE: yes. portkey: yes.

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